'The Legend of Buster Neal'

"The Legend of Buster Neal" is a play by Jackie Alexander currently at eta Creative Arts, about a civil rights activist who mysteriously returns 60 years after his supposed death to confront his great-great-grandson. What it says on the subject: Unlike other plays about race out there, and those are good plays, this is not one about race relations, says eta President Phillip Thomas. "There's important work there to be done, but this is really for our own community." Eta Creative Arts has a largely African-American audience, and "Legend of Buster Neal" takes on social issues within the black community with a kind of realism not usually found in popular culture. For example, Thomas said, the 16-year-old grandson is tempted to quit his low-paying job at a fast-food restaurant to deal drugs. He sees the low-paying jobs that his parents and grandparents took as demeaning. "He says, 'You don't have the pride we have now,'" Thomas said. The older generations must open his eyes to the dignity of work, and how putting up with the abuses they shouldered "was bravery," he said. "It was to feed our families. Understand, these are real issues, talked about in real ways." Details: Through March 4 at eta Creative Arts, 7558 S. South Chicago Ave.; 773-752-3955 and etacreativearts.org

"The Legend of Buster Neal" is a play by Jackie Alexander currently at eta Creative Arts, about a civil rights activist who mysteriously returns 60 years after his supposed death to confront his great-great-grandson. What it says on the subject: Unlike other plays about race out there, and those are good plays, this is not one about race relations, says eta President Phillip Thomas. "There's important work there to be done, but this is really for our own community." Eta Creative Arts has a largely African-American audience, and "Legend of Buster Neal" takes on social issues within the black community with a kind of realism not usually found in popular culture. For example, Thomas said, the 16-year-old grandson is tempted to quit his low-paying job at a fast-food restaurant to deal drugs. He sees the low-paying jobs that his parents and grandparents took as demeaning. "He says, 'You don't have the pride we have now,'" Thomas said. The older generations must open his eyes to the dignity of work, and how putting up with the abuses they shouldered "was bravery," he said. "It was to feed our families. Understand, these are real issues, talked about in real ways." Details: Through March 4 at eta Creative Arts, 7558 S. South Chicago Ave.; 773-752-3955 and etacreativearts.org

"The Legend of Buster Neal" is a play by Jackie Alexander currently at eta Creative Arts, about a civil rights activist who mysteriously returns 60 years after his supposed death to confront his great-great-grandson. What it says on the subject: Unlike other plays about race out there, and those are good plays, this is not one about race relations, says eta President Phillip Thomas. "There's important work there to be done, but this is really for our own community." Eta Creative Arts has a largely African-American audience, and "Legend of Buster Neal" takes on social issues within the black community with a kind of realism not usually found in popular culture. For example, Thomas said, the 16-year-old grandson is tempted to quit his low-paying job at a fast-food restaurant to deal drugs. He sees the low-paying jobs that his parents and grandparents took as demeaning. "He says, 'You don't have the pride we have now,'" Thomas said. The older generations must open his eyes to the dignity of work, and how putting up with the abuses they shouldered "was bravery," he said. "It was to feed our families. Understand, these are real issues, talked about in real ways." Details: Through March 4 at eta Creative Arts, 7558 S. South Chicago Ave.; 773-752-3955 and etacreativearts.org